Center-friction for watches and clocks.



r; WEHINGER. CENTER FRICTION FOR WATCHES AND CLOCKS.

APPLICATION 21min FBB.17,1910.

Patented May 24, 1910.

- Tofall whom 'itma/y concern: I I

1 UNITED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

rnnnmuox WEHINGEB, or WATERBURY; CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR 'ro WATERBURY LoCx COMPANY, or 'WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, a CORPORATION.

CENTER-FRICTION FOR WATCHES AND CLOCKS.

Be it known that L'FREDERICK WEHINGER,

' a citizen of the United States, residing at Waterbury, in the county of New Haven, and

State of. Connecticut, have invented a new a and useful Improvement in Center-Frictions for Watches and Clocks; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the characters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings'consti- I tute part of this specification, and represent,

Figure-1 aview partly in side elevation and partly in vertical. section of a centerfriction constructed .in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 a detached view in side elevation of the friction-collar. Fig. 3 a

detached edge view of the friction-washer.

Fig. 4 a detached plan view of the friction- I .washer. Fig. 5 a detached view in side ele- "vation of 'the center-pinion. Fig. 6 a broken view partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section of one of the modified forms which my improved center-friction may assume. Fig. 7 a detached view in side elevationof the friction-collar. Fi 8 a detached edge view of the friction-was er. Fig. 9 a detached view in side elevation of the centerpinion.

I My invention relates to an improved 'cen--- ter-friction' for watches and clocks, or in other ,words, to that feature of watches and clocks employed to permit the center-arbor or shaft carrying the hands to be turned one way or the other, as required for setting them, without disturbing the time-train of themovement, the object of my present invention being to produce a center-friction constructed with particular reference to securing a marked economy of space as well as a smoother and more uniform frictional ac-' tion than the corresponding devices of the prior art. v

With these ends in view my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts t *ehereinafter described and pointed out in a claims.

In carrying out my invention as herein shown, I employ a fiat washer 2 which is cupped and therefore placed under tension by being compressed between a friction-collar 3 having a. convexed face 4 and nonrotatably mounted upon the center-arbor 5,

4 Specification of Letters Patent. I Patented May 24 1910. Application filed February 17, 1910. Serial- No.

and the eoncavedadjacent face 6 of the center-pin1on 7 loosely mounted upon the said arbor 5, and carrying the center-wheel 8 which forms a part of the time-train of the movement.

The tension of the washer 2 crowds the pinion 7 and wheel 8 forward so as to create between the forward end of the said pinion and a shoulder 9 on the arbor 5, the fric-' tion required to cause the'arbor 5-to be rotated by.the wheel 8 under ordinary conditions. the hands, not shown, but understood to be applied in the usual manner to the forward end of the arbor, the same will turn independently of the pinion 7 and wheel 8 by the application to it of a power superior to proved construction above set forth is. more economical of lateral space than the ordinary cupped washer and produces a smoother and more uniform friction inasmuch as it is very diflicult to temper the metal used in cupped washers with'sufiicient accuracy and uniformity to make them give uniform results.

In the modified form of my invention shown by Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive, the construction shown by the precedingfigures is reversed, but the operation isthe same. In this construction the friction-collar ,10, nonrotatably mounted upon the center-arbor 11, has its forward face concaved as at 12f0r coaction with a flat washer 13 sprung into such concavityby being forced against a convex surface let formed at the rear end of a center-pinion 15 loosely mounted upon the arbor 11 and car ing a center-w which is in mesh with the time-train of the movement. The tension thus produced creates sufficient friction between the for ward endof the pinion 15 and a shoulder 17 upon the arbor 11, to causjithe same to be rotated under normal circumstances with the wheel 16, but this tension is easily overcome for setting the hands by the application of enough power to the arbor 11 to overcome the tension of the washer 13.

I claim In a watch, the combination with the center-arbor thereof, of a friction shoulder located upon the said arbor, a center-pinion loosely mounted upon the said arbor and abutted at one end against the said shoul der against which it is rotated with the production of friction, a center-wheel car When, however, itis desired to set the friction produced as described. My imeel 16 f 7 ried by the said pinion, a frictioncollar nonrotatably mounted on the said arbor adjacent to the opposite end of the said centerpinion from the said shoulder, and :1 friction washer interposed between the centerpinion and the said friction-collar, one of the two surfaces between which the said washer is interposed being convex and the other being concave, and the Washer being compressed and placed under tension between the said surfaces and developing more or less friction between the opposite end of the center pinion and the said shoulder according to the degree to which the Washer is cupped between the two surfaces.

In testimony whereof, I havesigned this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses), i

' FREDERICK VVEHINGER. Witnesses C. W. SHADER, C. 1. (homes. 

